Hi !
I have been given a new medication and I do not need insulin right now. And I do believe that my weight is finally coming down. Insulin,I find. is really a fat storage hormone and it is difficult to lose weight with it. Lately I have found it to be very ineffective in lowering the blood sugar readings. the new medication has lowered the readings.
I have been fasting. fasting, fasting. It would be nice to eat every second day.
My weight is down 20 lbs since Jan. 1st. Those 20 lbs. i attribute to the medication for diabetes and the low fat high carb. diet which is the standard diabetic diet since I was diagnosed. Low fat diets came into vague at the time I was diagnosed – it was low carb diet when my mother had diabetes.

One of the very good articles I found today, regarding the -ve and pathetic influence of Artificial Sweeteners.

If you’re wondering where they are, they are literally used everywhere now-a-days from soda’s to soft drinks, from noodles to pasta, from sauces to salad dressings.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/23/artificial-sweeteners-confuse-body.aspx

Extract from the above page

” Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are primarily promoted to diabetics and those concerned about their weight. This despite the fact that artificial sweeteners have repeatedly been shown to produce the exact opposite effects:

Research shows that aspartame worsens insulin sensitivity to a greater degree than sugar
Artificial sweeteners have also been found to promote weight gain, in more ways than one

Over time, artificial sweeteners have also crept into a wide variety of products not directly targeting diabetics and dieters.

Artificial sweeteners are added to about 6,000 different beverages, snacks, and food products, making label-reading an ever pressing necessity. Disturbingly, food industry groups are now trying to hide the presence of artificial sweeteners in certain foods…”

Hi all it suddenly went over the page.

Thanks for the link. I will read and digest this and try to talk to my friend on insulin and the one who is T2. One day it may help, I think it is better to be considered a nusience than not say anything. At this stage neither want to listen so I am not beating a drum only playing background music, but boy do I want to beat that drum!!

Krishna

I started weighing everyday and I found the same, differences of about 4lb, a big fluctuation.

PJBR

A fantastic loss, it shows how hard you have been working.

Yes I am guilty of having foods with aspartame in. It is really difficult to get out of that mindset after many years of low fat being drummed into us. I am trying. In fact I have a youghurt maker that I am thinking of using. This way I can sweeten with stevia this is the only one I use at home. It would be useful to grow this in the garden if possible there was an interesting program on this a long time ago.

My problem is blood pressure, I can’t work as it is so high, hence the dedication to 5:2, I am constantly looking at labels for this, it is normally on labels as sodium and you have to multiply it by 2.5 to get salt levels. A complicated system. It is in yoghurts, I was realised surprised to find this out in the last couple of weeks, so another reason to make my own!

Ginette

Hi Ginette,

I’m glad that you’ve liked the article. Ever since I’m trying to regulate the sugar levels and reduce my weight, I’m reading more & more articles and they are so useful. When I read this article, I was in shock. Believe me, these days they’re using aspartame in each and every food. We should be really careful about this.

Not only Aspartame but also other artificial sweeteners are also dangerous like esp the one’s we use as sugar substitutes for diabetics.

As of now, I’ve lost 25kgs. Need to reduce another 15 kgs to achieve my goal weight. Recently participated in an running event (5k) 2 days before. Now am focusing more on such races to burn more calories and be more active.

Thanks Ginette. With Support and Encouragement everything’s possible. This is one of the reasons I like this forum so much, since its filled with people like you who, not only contribute, but also support each other on the path of the journey.

Thank you Krishna

Yes I’m on other threads as well and I think we all pull together like a community. A wonderful thing. Isn’t that what life is about helping others?

Hi PJBR

My thanks for your comments, very annoying that you don’t seem to get emails. Contact the text bu looking at the bottom of this page – there is a link to him. He is really helpful.

Stevia I always use less than reccomended amounts, I tend to use it with rhubarb and apple. I also know some people use it for baking.

My weight loss has been good in the last 6 weeks (5 of which have been on the fast diet) I have lost almost a stone – I weight tomorrow and I think it may be a stone. I think this is really good weight loss and I don’t want to lose any quicker. I can’t afford to pay out for any treatments as I am unable to work because of blood pressure and on a very restricted income. But many thanks for the thought. Mine is caused by severe stress – to counteract it I am losing weight exercising regularly, listening to a hypnotherapy tape, having occasional accupuncture and now I am going to have talking therapy. I do believe in trying everything I can to help. We had a massive trauma in the family and the repercussions are on going. I just need to deal with them better.

I am sorry about your BS fluctuations, but it seems as if you are coping well on the medication. One of mine (the blood pressure one) gives me terrible nightmares and as I am seeing a specialist I shall look forward to changing it.

I wish up you luck and follow your results as you post.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be free of these health problems!

Ginette

Great news, Krishna.!!!!!!!!
How wonderful you must feel !!!!!!!!
It has been a great effort you put in. Now to think that when you reach your weight loss goal, you will be able to eat rice occasionally and other Starch/sweets occasionally. I think we have to remember how we got there in the first place – for me it was 3-5 starches per day, 3 fruit per day and 2-3 dozen cookies per week ( a weakness when the kids were kids and I made them. Maybe an exaggeration, maybe not. a secret though)

What wonderful weight loss Ginette. The weight is peeling off so do not change a thing.

As for me, I have been extremely dehydrated, extremely weak and unsteady on my feet. It seemed to be getting better then yesterday it got worse and I went to hospital. I told them about the reaction to the drug and that I was dehydrated and the reason I came was to be treated with IV .
Well they checked me out for heart attack!! Found I did not have one and sent me home. Untreated, except for 1 bag of fluid – more would have been nice. Told to drink electrolyte drinks. do you know that they ALL have sugar besides the electrolytes. Have started putting tons of salt in my broth. I have improved but tire easily.

The good news is that I have not taken any insulin since over a week and my blood sugars are within the range accepted by the program and I am losing weight.

this too shall pass. we shall overcome. and all that……

Hi PJBR,

Truly said. My main culprits have been, Sugar & Sugar. Mostly with Coke, coke & Coke. That’s the main reason for the whole chaos. Even though I was feasting on cookies/biscuits/noodles and other junk food out there, but the culprit for me is Coke/Pepsi/Fanta.

Thanks God, after this, when I knew the truth now, No way am going to consume a bit of them, no strictly liquid sugars & High Fructose ingredients. White Rice, I feel, is okay to certain extent, which I crave for, but not too much.

Am so happy to see your results. Really awesome. Keep going 🙂

Hi Ginette,

Your weight loss is really amazing. Good results.

Hi All

I saw this today and found it really interesting. I thought you might enjoy reading it.

Another reason not to put off that diet! Losing even a FEW pounds has a dramatic effect on your joints and risk of diabetes, says leading doctor
http://dailym.ai/1HFXsfI

Ginette

Hi Krishna

Yes great news for all of those who are losing.

This is a link from another thread so I have watched it and found it fascinating. It really shows how we got to be so overweight in the beginning.

I am sure you will love this. It takes 5 minutes to go through the video, but it is 5 minutes well spent.

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-nicole-avena

Ginette

Hi Krishna

Yes I found it good, well worth watching. Well I have done the above and don’t really crave foods now. I have a healthy enjoyment of them and don’t need anywhere near the amount that I used to have. It also mentions that we can have some now and again without triggering the addiction.

I hope some people who are borderline diabetics read this, maybe they can reverse it before having to take meds.

I hope all is going well for you this week. I shall finish the six weeks of fast beach diet. Now the end is in sight, I am thinking about all of the foods I can have if I want to. Of course the reality of it will be that I don’t as you always fancy what you can’t have.

Jump in and join anybody reading this……

Ginette

Hi Krishna

Yes I am doing it as I enjoyed Easter a bit too much!! I really didn’t want to go back to the can’t live without chocolate route as I so enjoyed it. I decided to nip it in the bud. A forum friend was going onto it (FBD) and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to support her and stop overdependency on treats.

I have been telling people wrongly (as this if how I read it) that it was 5:2 but with no treats. It says to cut back on treats and I must admit to having a small ice cream at each of these one was a wedding and that was the dessert so no choice. The other two times I had a choice but chose to have just a small ice cream. No fruit salads were on the menus – thank goodness for that!!

Here is a planner I found, I didn’t fill it in but there is a lot of information on the very last page. I do exercise anyway and so stayed with that. Hiit is really found to help diabetes so may be useful for you. Also it helps blood pressure so useful for me.

I am going to join the gym in a few weeks. I am lucky to have a local gym that charges £2 a session after the induction. I want a monitored few weeks so this is slightly more. I am seeing a NHS healthtrainer now. He is there to monitor weight, BMI and waist measurement. This is free and has helped me. This will stop in a few weeks so hence the gym idea. I need to tone up as I have lost a good amount of weight and still have a lot more to lose.

Here is the link to the planner.

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/FB-PLANNER.pdf

Maybe not for everybody, but I thought that 6 weeks wasn’t a long time to commit to and only this week have been looking forward to less restrictions next week.

I will post my weekly weight loss over the 6 weeks so you can get a full picture if you are interested. Bear in mind that also being very overweight I may be losing faster.

I know you are really strict with yourself as well.

Ginette

Hi Ginette
Thanks for all the links- good to read some factual information about weight loss and the additional health benefits. Hoping to postpone the age-related chronic illnesses by eating healthily and reducing my weight – and keeping it off by following the 5:2 format.

Hi Ginette

When I reached 60 my doctor gaily told me that due to my family medical history I am more susceptible to suffer from heart disease and diabetes and the best way was to keep my weight down. I’m 5’2” and once topped 146 lbs but for most of my adult life have weighed 135 – 139 lbs and he advised me to get down to 125 lbs. Not been that weight since 1982 and less active these days which doesn’t help! I did 5:2 just over two years ago and liked the way it worked but due to a crazy lifestyle the weight crept up to 137 lbs and I haven’t done anything about it. Due some important blood tests at the end of June so I’m hoping there’ll be an improvement in cholesterol and blood sugar levels which were a bit high last December. Always enjoy your posts.

In June’s edition of Healthy Food Guide UK
http://www.healthyfood.co.uk/
there is a very helpful page with info about type 2 Diabetes.
In the UK the magazine costs £2.20 from any good newsagent. It is very interesting and has loads of helpful info.

One for all of you who like pasta:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11167883/Cool-and-reheat-pasta-to-make-it-less-fattening.html

I had bare names noodles today as a pasta, it really wasn’t the same. I then remembered afterwards that I could have done this.

How annoying. Something to remember for next time. It also mentions rises in blood sugars.

Ginette

Hi All !!

I am back – ist day of a long fast today – wish me luck.

Have not been well so could not fast but back at it now. Hopefully to get rid of the insulin forever!!!!!!!!
That means the need for a long fast (how long who knows?) I hope it is not too long and that I lose a fair whack of weight so that I can fast alternate days.

Hi PJBR

Good luck to you. I hope your success comes soon.

Hi Krishna

Yes I did keep calorie count unusually as I only normally do new foods, fast days and the random day to see that I am still on track. I use my fitness pal app for this.

On fast days about 475 calories (it is 500 calories for a woman).

On non fast I know that it was between 900 + to 1200 most days. Normally the lower end. Some days I struggled to get over 1000.

I did three fast days most of these 6 weeks. I had a couple of meals out during this time.

My fitness pal has given me a calorie allowance of 1580 calories so I was a long way below this. I didn’t find it a struggle either although I was longing for the freedom to eat what I wanted within reason this week. I am still doing three fast days just to make sure that I don’t go too mad with foods that I now can have.

I love pasta but I have not had it since January as it is a weakness. I may allow myself some in the future, with rice coming out at 60% less calories using this method again I may allow myself some. I always have brown rice and I have heard that some people use cauliflower instead of rice. I can find you the method if you are interested.

Ginette

Hi Krishna

Maybe you can just limit the food that you enjoy to a couple of times a week. Are there low calorie versions of these?

Yes the first week on FBD I found it a bit of a struggle, but for three weeks I had a very small ice cream, twice I was out for dinner and the third time at a wedding. I really looked forward to these time. I did have other food that I liked, strawberries and yogurt, cantaloupe melon etc. so it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

I also had some savoury food that I enjoyed like slimming world chips. This is to boil the chips for 5 minutes, then put their in the oven and spray with fry light. You can also add herbs. My son was going to do some with Parmesan and truffle oil, but when he got the Parmesan out of the fridge it had gone mouldy. So that will wait for another day. We had a hairy bikers chicken recipe, that was delicious.

So there are other ways you can be spoilt.

Good luck

It will be interesting to see your progress. I counted calories for the duration and it change my choices in many foods. This was interesting. No I am far more mindful of what I eat.

Let me know how it is going. If it was a few weeks later I would join you, but I need to have a break now and relax.

To me this isn’t about fast weight loss, it is about enjoying the process and ultimately lowering blood pressure.

Ginette

Hi Ginette,

You’re right. I need to limit my cravings. Not so easy as it may sound or seem to be. I’m a vegetarian, but I do eat eggs. No meat, no fish. Since its a mango season here, I’ve been feasting on mangoes every day and this seems to increase my calorie intake/day.

Need to be extra vigilant on the foods I stuff in the mouth. Will keep posted on my progress.

Just shows I don’t have much will power after all and it’s just as well I don’t have nay chocolate in the house! Went shopping in the local supermarket and there were samples of the chocolate they had on offer that day. I devoured 8 pieces without even thinking – well, I must have done because I walked by the plate 4 times! I’m trying to educate my brain that sweet things are bad for me, just goes to show that at the moment it doesn’t take much to break that resolution!

Hi Ginette,

Thanks for that wonderful FB Planner. Its really indeed so helpful. I’ve taken the print and started filling the details. It’s true that we stick to more, when we put down the things on the paper rather than lying simply as thoughts. This printout is really handy.

This week I didn’t do any fast day and so decided that today and tomorrow goanna be my fast days for this week. A bit of sporadic action this week, but will try to smoothen and regularize the things from next week. Would also be doing 3 FD’s from next week.

It’s another challenge for me.

Hi All

Here is the ice cream available in the UK.

Is it too good to be true? Superfood-charged ice cream with the same amount of calories as an APPLE unveiled
http://dailym.ai/1cBPqct

It is sold in Waitrose

Seems really expensive for 500mls but I suppose it works out at just over a £1 a portion and you would pay much more for shop bought individual ice creams.

Waitrose link.

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=381911

Maybe also a way that people with diabetes can have an ice cream.

Let me know if anybody tries it.

Ginette

So, here is my Week 1 of FBD (modified version without HIIT) results.

Weight Loss : 2 Kgs (From 73.3 to 71.3 kgs)
BMI : -0.7 (From 26.9 to 26.2)

Hi PJBR,

Hope you’re doing good. Hoz the fasting going on? Was there any weight loss?

My BS’s are doing good. No issues with them now. Just awaiting for 1.5 month to complete so that I can go for HbA1c again to see the 3 month averages.